A systematic review of the effect of university positive psychology courses on student psychological wellbeing

Hobbs, Catherine, Armitage, Jessica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0929-9956, Hood, Bruce and Jelbert, Sarah 2022. A systematic review of the effect of university positive psychology courses on student psychological wellbeing. Frontiers in Psychology 13 , 1023140. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023140

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB)

Abstract

Educational courses that teach positive psychology interventions as part of university degree programs are becoming increasingly popular, and could potentially form part of university-wide strategies to respond to the student mental health crisis. To determine whether such courses are effective in promoting student wellbeing, we conducted a systematic review of studies across the globe investigating the effects of positive psychology courses taught within university degree programs on quantitative measures of psychological wellbeing. We searched Embase, PsychInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science electronic databases from 1998 to 2021, identifying 27 relevant studies. Most studies (85%) reported positive effects on measures of psychological wellbeing, including increased life satisfaction and happiness. However, risk of bias, assessed using the ROBINS-I tool, was moderate or serious for all studies. We tentatively suggest that university positive psychology courses could be a promising avenue for promoting student wellbeing. However, further research implementing rigorous research practices is necessary to validate reported benefits, and confirm whether such courses should form part of an evidence-based response to student wellbeing.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Publisher:	Frontiers Media
ISSN:	1664-1078
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 November 2022
Date of Acceptance:	25 October 2022
Last Modified:	02 May 2023 14:32
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/154193

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item